Recovered
by PvtBrook
Summary: "I received a letter an hour ago." Winter reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper. "I've been informed where my sister is." Ruby carefully took the paper from the woman's hands and unfolded it. Her hands were shaking and her eyes had gone wide. "Weiss..." In a second she dropped the paper and sprinted to her bedroom to change.


**So please keep in mind I started this the weekend after chapter 2 came out and wasnt really about fixing it, so after chapter 2 this is canon divergence I guess... Also this was 21 pages on MS Word so let that sink in. This is longer than any paper I've written for class**

 **Hope you like it**

* * *

The previous day, her uncle Qrow had gone to the base that the Atlesian military had been stationed to convince an officer to fly them to the bandit's base. His only reasoning _was if the Mistral military won't help, maybe someone else's military will._ Obviously, it didn't go very well. The _icy, white haired woman with a stick up her ass_ (in his words, not Ruby's) refused to help and sent him out of the base on his ass.

 _"We could walk there." Ruby had suggested. "It can't be that far, can it?"_

 _Qrow just shook his head. "It's almost across Anima. It would take ages," he grumbled making a face, "and we don't have that kinda time."_

It's been a couple days since then and Ruby was sleeping on the couch in the main room. With a comic on her chest and an arm hanging off the side she was softly snoring away. She was having such a good dream. So good in fact that she didn't realize someone was knocking on the door until it turned into pounding.

Ruby's eyes shot open and she shot upward. She recognized the noise and sighed, rubbing her eyes. The redhead sat up properly and let the comic fall into her lap. She carefully moved it onto the coffee table and stood up and sluggishly walked towards the door to stop the source of the noise. When she opened it, however, she was surprised.

She was not expecting a tall military official to be standing at the door, and she _certainly_ didn't expect it to be her teammate's sister.

"Uhh..." Ruby mumbled. "Winter?"

The white haired woman glared. "Where's Qrow?"

Ruby rubbed her eyes again. "He's probably at the bar..." She yawned. "Why?"

The specialist glared down at her. "I need to speak with him."

"Abooouuut...?" Ruby drawled out.

The older Schnee grit her teeth. Finally she closed her eyes and let out a sigh. "You're going with him to Eastern Anima, correct?"

"Yes? With Jaune, Nora, and Ren too."

Winter made a face but didn't comment on it. Instead she nodded her head. "I agree to fly you all to the bandit's camp."

The redhead's eyes lit up. "Really? That's awesome! Oh, I mean... that's splendid." Ruby curtsied, pulling the sides of her pants legs outward awkwardly. "We thank you for your...generosity!"

The woman rolled her eyes. "Yes, of course."

Ruby stood up straight again. Her eyebrows were furrowed in confusion. "Wait, why did you decide to help us?"

The soldier held her hands behind her back. "I have my own reasons for going now."

"Liiiike...?" Ruby pushed.

Winter exhaled. "I don't see how this wouldn't concern you, too."

Ruby just tilted her head to the side, even more confused.

"I received a letter an hour ago." Winter reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper. She held it out in front of the younger girl. "I've been informed where my sister is."

Ruby carefully took the paper from the woman's hands and unfolded it. Her eyes briefly scanned the page. Then she scanned it again. And again. And again.

Her hands were shaking and her eyes had gone wide. "Weiss..."

In a second she dropped the paper and sprinted to her bedroom to change.

* * *

After tracking down the bar that her uncle Qrow was at and waking the rest of team RNJR Ruby informed everyone that they had a ride to Raven's camp. After a few minutes of persuasion, she convinced everyone that it was best they go immediately.

Winter escorted them into the military base to the landing strip. The entire way through Ruby was staring at everything in awe; all the weapons, all the tech and machinery. It was just so _amazing!_

She felt a hand land on her head and ruffle her hair. Ruby looked up to see her uncle Qrow. "Try and keep up kiddo. Don't want you left behind now."

She girl smiled up at him and ran to catch up with the rest of the group, only to be held in awe at the airship.

"Woah!" She stared up at it in wonder. "That's so cool!"

"Come on." Winter was growing impatient. "We must leave as soon as possible."

The doors opened and the pilot stepped out. She stopped at the end of the runway and saluted the specialist. "Specialist Schnee, the ship is ready to depart at any moment."

Winter nodded. "Thank you, Holiday. I appreciate you flying us."

The pilot smiled at her. "Always a pleasure flying with you, ma'am." She stepped to the side and waved her hand towards the door. "Shall we all go?"

Ruby was starting to get antsy.

She has been staring out the window watching the scenery pass by for the last hour and forty minutes. Maybe twenty minutes ago she had started fiddling with the silver pendant she kept in her pocket.

"Is that my sisters?"

Ruby's gaze slowly shifted from the window to Winter. She looked down at the object in her hands and sighed. "Yeah."

"How did you acquire it?" The woman sat down in the chair across from her.

"It was before her match in the Vytal tournament," Ruby murmured. "She said the hook was starting to break and didn't want it to fall off, so she gave it to me before she went out."

The Schnee raised an eyebrow. "And you still have it?"

"I forgot to give it back."

"Let me rephrase," Winter sighed. "You're still carrying it?"

The redhead blushed. "I-I wanted to give it back."

Winter held back a smile. "I see. Well, I'm sure you will be able to give it to her soon."

Ruby's gaze trailed upward to the older woman seated in front of her and smiled gratefully.

"Hey guys?"

The two looked at Jaune who was standing worriedly in the aisle. Ruby carefully slid the necklace back into her pocket. The blond put a hand on his sword. "We'll be there in a few minutes. Qrow says we should get ready. We probably won't have time to get prepared after we land in their base, so..."

Winter stood up. "You're right. Let's prepare."

They were all standing by the doors with their weapons out. Winter was in the cockpit giving her orders to Officer Holiday that they were to be picked up two kilometres north of the camp.

Ruby took a deep breath. To say she felt nervous was an understatement. All she wanted was her team back, and now she had to save one from bandits. What was her partner doing in Anima anyway? That was beside the point now, Ruby just hoped she was okay...

She closed her eyes and gripped the handle of her weapon tightly. _Soon._

Her eyes shot open to the cold air that came into the ship. The doors were opening. She gripped Crescent Rose tightly. She faintly heard Officer Holiday over the loud roaring of the wind in her ears.

"Go, go, go!"

And they jumped.

* * *

 _I guess practicing your falling strategy was useful_ , Ruby thought as she plummeted over three hundred metres towards the earth.

Everyone that had jumped out of the airship had some plan of landing safely, all except for Jaune of course. He was clinging onto Nora who seemed unperturbed by the boy on her back. They had maybe a hundred metres until they touched down and Ruby didn't think they noticed them yet.

"Above us!"

"Get ready!"

"Kill them!'

Okay, maybe they did notice them.

Ruby quickly sprung out Crescent Rose and shot herself towards the trees. She hooked the blade around a branch and swung herself around and back on top of the limb. Without double checking, she quickly used her semblance and flew into the battle.

All she could hear around her were the sounds of yelling and shouting, metal clashing against each other, and bullets being shot. All she could see were blurs of people and glints of grey. She was swinging her scythe around and swiping it at the bandit's feet. Bodies fell to the floor the more she swung. The redhead flew into the air in a flurry of rose petals and shot off rounds around the people below.

When she landed she felt a hand grip the back of her collar and _pull_. With a yelp, the young girl fell backward and she felt the air get knocked out of her lungs. She tried to rise, but a foot slammed into her abdomen and a sword was pointed at her throat. The bandit raised his sword and started to jab downwards when a black glyph spiraled out of nowhere. It hovered gracefully over her neck and stopped the blade in its tracks. Ruby glanced to the side in time to see Winter thrust her sword into the dirt and a white glyph materialized below. A flock of miniature Nevermore's flooded out of the glyph and flew straight at the man. He shrieked as they attacked him, pecking at his clothes and his skin, and was chased away.

Ruby took a few breaths and sat up. "Thank you."

The elder Schnee nodded at her in acknowledgment. "You need to find my sister."

"But—"

They were interrupted by a loud _crash_. The two whipped their heads towards the source of the sound to see the Branwen twins dueling angrily. Winter's grip on her sword hilt tightened. "Unfortunately, I need to help your drunken uncle," she hissed. "Arc and Ren already checked the tents on the right and middle areas looking for the maiden. Weiss should be in one of those," the soldier pointed to the few tents pitched behind Ruby. "Now go!"

And the two ran off in opposite directions.

Ruby ran into tent after tent looking for her teammate but to no avail.

 _Where is she?_ Ruby panicked. _She has to be here!_

Ruby sprinted towards the last possible tent. She had her hands on her knees huffing. She caught her breath and reached out to move the tent flap to the side.

Her eyes were immediately drawn to a figure lying on the floor.

There she was, Weiss Schnee, lying on the dirt floor. Her dress was covered in dirt and there were tears along the bottom. As Ruby got closer she noticed the small cuts over Weiss' arms and bruises on her legs. The redhead tilted the unconscious girl's head to look towards her to be greeted with a still-healing gash on her forehead with _so much_ _bruising_ around it. There were small nicks on her face but nothing was close to being as bad as that. She looked like she lost weight and she was paler than usual.

"Weiss..." Ruby softly shook the girl. When she didn't stir, she shook her harder. "Weiss..!"

Finally, Weiss winced. Her eyes opened and they shifted towards Ruby. Her eyes shot open the rest of the way and she jumped back.

Ruby pulled her arms back and held them up in a surrendering motion. "Woah woah, Weiss calm down! It's me!"

The scared girl blinked once. Twice. Then they widened in recognition. "Ruby!" And she threw her arms around the redhead.

To say she was caught off guard would be an understatement, but Ruby guessed when you were kidnapped by bandit's you became a little clingy. Ruby wrapped her arms around the other girl and held her tightly. "You're fine...you're alright." Weiss gripped the red cape in her hands tightly. "They said no one was coming," she mumbled into her shoulder.

Ruby's heart broke. "Weiss I'd always come get you."

She heard the tent flap open and Ruby immediately turned her head, one hand leaving Weiss and the other grabbing the hilt of her weapon. She stopped when she saw it was only Winter, and the woman had the biggest smile on her face that Ruby ever saw on her (which isn't saying much, she's never seen her smile).

Ruby nudged the girl in her arms and Weiss looked up from her chest. The girl blinked again and her face broke out in a smile. Weiss let go of her partner and shot up, almost sprinting towards her sister. At the last second, she stopped abruptly in front of her and with a quiet _'oh!'_ she held her hands behind her back.

"Winter!" Weiss seemed to have to force the smile on her face to shrink. "It's great to see you." And she bowed her head.

"Oum, Weiss," Winter whispered. She looked her sister up and down seeing how dirty and tattered she looked.

Weiss glanced back up at the soldier then back down at herself. The girl exhaled and muttered to herself quietly, too quiet for Ruby to hear but Winter raised an eyebrow. "I-I'm sorry I'm such a mess. I'm sorry I even got into this situation! It... It was my fault, really! I—"

She didn't get the chance to finish. Winter took a step closer to her younger sister and wrapped her arms around her. Weiss shut her mouth looking shocked, but the look quickly faded as she hugged her sister back with content.

Winter pulled away and looked right into Weiss' eyes. Her eyebrows furrowed, "I was worried about you." She confided. "I am so sorry; I should have gotten you out ages ago." The older Schnee cupped her younger sister's face in her hands and traced the scratches and bruises on her face.

Weiss smiled uncertainly at her. "I was fine there. I'm glad you came to get me."

Winter gave her a look as if to say _you can't get away with that with me_ , and Weiss looked away. She looked back at Ruby and held her hand out. The redhead beamed at her and stepped forward taking her hand in her own. Winter seemed to make note of this.

"This is touchy and all, but we gotta get goin'."

Ruby jumped and glared back at the entrance of the tent. Her uncle Qrow had a smirk on his face as he knocked against the wooden frame. "Come on, or we'll miss the rendezvous with our pilot."

* * *

Weiss, Ruby could tell, was very happy to leave the camp. She may not have been smiling, but her eyes were shining and looked brighter than they were when she was in the tent. Her posture was straight and she walked with her head high, but the redhead could tell she was tired and it was a long walk to the rendezvous point.

The partners were trailing behind everyone a few steps from the others, and Qrow was paying more attention to making sure that nothing happened to Spring (and she didn't bolt). Ruby glanced in front of them and behind them quickly before leaning closer to Weiss, lightly touching the girl's hand with her fingertips to get her attention. "We can always take a break if you want."

Weiss shook her head. "No, I'm fine," she murmured, even though she was obviously started to breathe heavily. There was a light sheen of sweat on her forehead.

Ruby's eyebrows furrowed in concern. "Really, we can. It's fine, we get that y—"

"I said I'm _fine,_ Ruby." She hissed. The white haired girl sped up to walk ahead.

Ruby sighed dejectedly and shoved her hands in her pockets, taking a new interest in the ground.

"Try not to take it personally; it is how she was raised."

The scythe wielder jumped to see Winter standing by her now. Ruby immediately stood straight and pulled her hands out of her pockets. Winter just smirked down at her.

"Ever since we were younger we were taught to deal with our emotions by ourselves," Winter explained. "Our father always said our emotions made us weaker. We've tried to learn and embrace them—They help power our semblance. But it's hard to when we've been taught since birth to reject them." Ruby was silent as she took in all the information being given to her. "But while we were all at Beacon she was still more open than she is now..."

Winter sighed. "Unfortunately going back to the Manor most likely made things worse again. The second her and Father were out of the public's eye he probably started to scold her."

Neither spoke for a few seconds.

"I hate him."

The soldier eyed the redhead curiously and Ruby's head whipped towards Winter. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean—"

Winter held up a hand to silence her. "It's quite alright. I also have a great dislike for him and I know Weiss is not his biggest fan either." She finally turned her head to the shorter girl. "But why don't you?"

"Uh...well..." Ruby started fiddling with her fingers. "I -I just remember how she was when she talked about him. I mean, she didn't talk about him _much_. She never really talked about her family...Uh, besides you of course!"

Winter waved her hand in a _go on_ motion.

"It's just..." Ruby looked down again. Her voice grew quiet. "I remember she got a call on her scroll from him once. It was after our exams; she said he would've wanted to know her marks. I think she thought I was sleeping and Yang and Blake were out," her hands dropped down to her sides. "I just heard so much _yelling_ from the scroll. I think that was the first time I ever heard her sound so shaky..."

The woman glanced down at the red girl's balled up fists. She was surprised, to say the least, that someone cared so much for her younger sister. Winter smiled genuinely at the other girl. She put a hand on her shoulder to grab her attention.

"I would like to thank you."

"Huh?"

"I'm thanking you," Winter repeated. "I'm glad Weiss had you while she was at Beacon. Our father was never the caring type. He never treated us well. But whenever she talked about you, it would almost always be of praise. She's happy."

Ruby was shocked. Then a smile slowly spread across her face.

 _"Weiss!"_

The moment ended when the two looked ahead of them to see Jaune holding an unconscious Weiss in his arms. They sprinted towards the group. "What happened?!" Winter demanded.

"I-I don't know!" Jaune stammered. "One second she was walking, and then she stumbled over and passed out!"

Winter knelt down and took a closer look. Ruby was beyond worried seeing her unconscious partner lying there looking close to dead with how pale she was. Vernal also kneeled down on the grass beside the unconscious girl. She held the back of her hand against her forehead and closed her eyes. She let out a breath, "She'll be fine. She just ran out of energy; they weren't feeding her too much."

The soldier let out of sigh of relief but that didn't replace the furious glint in her eyes.

Ruby noticed the look of anger. "It's alright." She said in such a calm voice she surprised herself. "We need to get her back to Mistral so she can eat when she wakes up."

"I'll take her," Qrow grumbled as he knelt on his knees and stretched his arms back. Jaune and Ren carefully leaned her against his back and Qrow stood up, adjusting her as he went. "Let's just get goin', alright?"

* * *

The eight arrived at the airship not too long after that incident. Qrow and Weiss got on first and he lied her down on a couple of seats in one of the rows before he went to the back for a drink. Vernal lied down across three seats and immediately crashed. Winter went into the cockpit to talk with Officer Holiday while everyone else sat down in their seats away from Weiss. They wanted to give her space but still keep her in eyesight in case something happened.

Except for Ruby. Ruby sat down right across from her so she could keep a proper eye on her. Every few seconds her eyes would flicker to the unconscious girl with worry.

An hour and a half into the two-hour flight Spring was still sleeping while Nora and Ren fell asleep leaning against each other. Jaune planed a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Hey," he whispered. "She's gonna be fine. She just needs some rest."

Ruby smiled up at Jaune half-heartedly. He flashed a small smile back before heading to the back of the ship for snacks. Once he left her smile dropped and she stared back out the window.

"I told you." Ruby's head shot into Weiss' direction to see her eyes open and a barely visible smile upon her face.

"Weiss!" The redhead immediately got up from her chair and knelt down in front of the girl. She gently brushed the bandage that Pilot Holiday wrapped around her forehead.

"He said I was fine, see?" She muttered confidently, her voice still hoarse from not using it for the last hour and a half.

She started to tear up. "Technically he said you're _gonna_ be fine, but moving on," she chuckled. "And please stop saying you're 'fine', I hate it."

"No promises," Weiss snickered. She tried to sit up but winced. She grabbed her head and groaned. "Oum, my head..."

"You need food in your system." The younger girl informed. "And you're probably dehydrated. I'll get you something."

"You don't have t—"

But Ruby was already gone.

* * *

Maybe ten minutes later after Ruby helped Weiss sit up to eat did the white haired girl finish her meal of crackers and water. And she was complaining for five of them.

When Weiss finished, Ruby took the empty package of crackers and the cup and sat it on one of the seats opposite of them. She sat back on the seat beside Weiss'.

The older girl took a breath. "Thank you. For finding me, that is." Her hands were balled into fists in her lap. "I'm sorry I put you all in that situation, though."

Ruby reached over and took one of her partner's hands in her own. "It's alright, Weiss. I'm just happy to see you again."

Weiss looked down at their hands in shock and her face coloured, but she pulled her hand away and crossed her arms. "That girl that came with us, Vernal, she said she sent a letter to my sister. Was that right?"

Ruby nodded. "She said after she got it she immediately came to where all of us were staying to come with us."

She leaned her head back against the seat and let out a sigh through her nose. The two were both silent for a minute, neither really knowing what to say.

"Winter told me about your father." Ruby blurted out.

Weiss shot her head towards her. "What?"

The red girl cleared her throat. "Uh, your sister told me more about your father earlier on the walk here."

Weiss' eyes widened. "What... what did she say?" She asked nervously.

Ruby started to fiddle with the buttons on her cuffs. "She said he wasn't the caring type and he didn't really treat you guys well."

The Schnee rubbed her wrist and made a face. "He treated Whitley well," she grumbled.

"Who's Whitley?"

"My younger brother."

"You have a _brother?!_ " Ruby exclaimed. "Why have you never said that before?"

"Ruby quiet down, people are trying to sleep!" She hissed.

"Oh," Ruby whispered, sheepishly glancing at Ren and Nora. "Oops."

The older one sighed. "It's alright. I never had anything to say about him, and it's not like I talked to him while I was away." She rolled her eyes.

Ruby noticed the disdain in Weiss' tone as she said that and decided to not continue that conversation. At least not right now.

"She also said something about how he didn't let you guys, well, _feel_ anything."

The emotion from her face left after Ruby finished her sentence, funny enough. The red girl nudged her. "Weiss, come on. Talk to me, please?"

Weiss made the mistake of looking her partner in the eyes and getting ambushed by those _puppy dog eyes._ The two stared at each other for maybe twenty seconds before an annoyed _'fine!'_ was heard. The triumphant grin on her partner's face was irritating, to say the least.

"Alright," Weiss said. "My father runs a business—one of the most powerful businesses in the world—and he obviously needed an heir. He needed a child that was smart enough and able to handle controlling a business and be able to make all the decisions." She clenched her fists. "Unfortunately, it took a few tries to get the perfect child. Originally Winter was the heir, but she joined the military."

Weiss closed her eyes trying to ignore the flashes of her memories. Trying to ignore all the yelling and screaming; the painful cries of her sister getting hurt. She took a deep breath to calm herself and expel the memories from her mind.

This time when Ruby held her hand, she squeezed it back.

"So I became the heir and was put through even harsher training than Winter was put through to be a businesswoman." She turned her head toward the window and was nervously rubbing at her wrist. ""I made him angry recently...and may have been slightly _aggressive_ towards guests at a party. Now he has Whitley as heir. Without him I was nothing. We were all born for the sole purpose of leading a company like he is now."

"Nope."

"Eh, what?" Weiss asked, confused.

"Nope."

"What—"

"He was lying," Ruby said simply.

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Ruby I know you're trying to make me feel better, but—"

"I'm not saying it to make you feel better. I'm telling the truth." There was a slight fire in the girl's eyes. "He was lying to you. You're a lot more than nothing. Emotions help someone be, well, _human_."

"Well I don't think he wanted a human, then." She huffed. "We were meant to be like his possessions. He disowned Winter, and once he realizes I'm out of reach he'll disown me too."

"People aren't meant to be possessions; he can't train you as if you were a pet. And also," Ruby wrapped an arm around the older girl's shoulders. "I'm glad you were born. I would never have had as good of a partner as you. And if you want, you could live with me and Yang!"

Weiss blushed. "That's... sweet of you."

The grin on her partner's face was so infectious Weiss couldn't help but smile back at her. Suddenly Ruby's eyes lit up and her mouth formed an _'oh'_ shape while she rummaged around her pockets. Weiss just got more confused. "Ruby, what are you—"

"Found it!" The red girl pulled out a silver chain and let it dangle out of her fist. Ruby held it out to her friend.

Weiss stared at it. "Is that... my necklace?"

Ruby nodded. "You gave it to me before you and Yang's fight in the Vytal tournament; I just forgot to give it back."

Weiss carefully took it in her hand and stared at it in her palm. "Thank you... I can't believe you still have this."

"I wanted to make sure I got it back to you," her friend smiled at her.

"I see you're awake, sister."

The two teens turned to see Winter in the aisle and Ruby removed her arm from her friend. She wasn't smiling but there was a happy glint in her eyes. The woman sat down on the unoccupied seat in across from of the two.

"I am, yes." Weiss looked nervous if anything. She sat up stiffly and her shoulders were squared.

"I'm glad you're safe," she said. "But like I have said before, I'm not always going to be around to save you. You're going to need to start helping yourself."

Weiss' gaze drifted downwards. "I know," she said quietly.

She heard Winter sigh and stand up. She thought she was going to just walk away but was surprised when she felt her press a kiss to the top of her head. The younger girl looked stunned. Ruby stifled a laugh finding Weiss' stunned face funny. Winter walked back to the cockpit leaving Weiss in her shocked state.

Finally Ruby couldn't hold in her laughter anymore and burst out laughing. Weiss flushed red with embarrassment. "S-shut up!"

Ruby just kept laughing, throwing her arm back around her partner's shoulders. She pressed a kiss to Weiss' cheek and started laughing harder when she was reduced to stuttering.

The pilot exited the cockpit and everyone awake looked towards her. "I'd just like to inform you all that we're approximately fifteen minutes away from Mistral."

"Officer Holiday!" Weiss shouted. Their pilot sent Weiss a smirk.

"Miss Schnee," Holiday jokingly bowed. "It's lovely to see you again."

Weiss giggled. Jaune trailed up the aisle way looking bewildered. "Uh, how do you two know each other exactly?"

Officer Holiday shrugged. "I was close to her sister after she enlisted in the military. Klein would drop Weiss off for a few hours once or twice a year and the three of us would hang out together." The pilot looked down at Weiss' beaming face with a gentle smile. "I'll make sure we touch down safely—you can never trust those rookie co-pilots these days," she laughed. "See you all when we touch down." And she was gone.

Ruby saw the expression on her friend's face from the corner of her eye. Weiss' face quickly turned sullen once the pilot left. She tapped her shoulder. "Weiss, what's wrong?"

She shook her head. "It's just that I got to see them so little, and after a while, I just couldn't go anymore," she said. "My father made sure I was busy. I have a feeling he knew where I was going and made sure I had no opportunity to do it anymore."

The redhead side-hugged her, "When we land you guys can hang out all you want! You'll have the time now. At least, after you eat something solid."

Weiss just rolled her eyes playfully.

The two still had a lot to talk about. Well, that could wait until later. They had time.

* * *

 **Thank you guys for reading! I lowkey ship Holiday and Winter but like oh well.**

 **Please comment some constructive criticism on how I can improve!**


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